Tag: Eklund

First off I want to thank Sony Mobile for letting me join Furumi-san on stage at MWC 2018. The XZ2 and XZ2 Compact are incredible devices packed with features, but what really excites me is screen technology, in particular, their HDR displays.

In the 27 years I’ve worked at Sony I have seen dramatic improvements in picture quality, from analog VHS to digital DVD, Standard Definition to High Definition, and now the availability of High Dynamic Range in place of Standard Dynamic Range.

As I mentioned today, when people see HDR for the first time you can see their eyes widen. It’s easy to see why, HDR provides a means of delivering pictures that look “real” because image fidelity has reached a new level.

One of the best things about a company like Sony is that our technology reaches from end to end. Sony products start at the camera lens on the film set and continue all the way to living room. Now, with Xperia smartphones, you can see extraordinary pictures from the camera lens accurately realized in the palm of your hand.

And because they are Sony products it means those pictures really are extraordinary. It’s a mistake to think all HDR is created equal. A given camera can capture an image in an HDR format and a display can decode the HDR picture, but unless the devices are made with adequate quality and precision, the result will be sub-par. You can easily witness this fact in today’s televisions. A 65″ TV can be purchased for five times the cost of a cheaper model of the same size, but the cheaper device will not impress you with HDR.

I know there are doubters out there who wonder if this kind of screen tech is really needed in a mobile device. The reality is that HDR performance is independent of screen size. On a 65” TV in your living room or a 5.7” Xperia XZ2 in your pocket, the difference HDR delivers in terms of quality is unmistakeable.

Of course, it’s not just about watching content, this has implications for capturing quality as well. Mobile devices are great for sharing pictures and video with others. With the ability to shoot in HDR (supported natively by YouTube), you can make your content stand out from the ordinary.

I hope you will enjoy watching and creating cutting edge images with Xperia smartphones that bring a level of realism never seen before – I know I will.